As more film and television productions roll into the Greater Toronto Area, so too are more projects coming to shoot in Oakville. One new show, however, is now halfway through its production filming the first season of a new major network drama.
Called Good Sam, the new medical drama premiered two weeks ago on CBS in the U.S. and on Global TV here in Canada. The first episode aired on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 and airs on both channels at 10 p.m. on Wednesdays each week.
Created by producer Katie Wech, the show stars Sophia Bush (known for four seasons on Chicago P.D. and nine seasons on One Tree Hill) and Jason Isaacs (best known as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, more recently seen in Star Trek: Discovery).
According to an official description from the show, "Heart surgeon Dr. Samantha Griffith (Bush) becomes the top surgeon at Lakeshore Sentinel Hospital after her boss and father, Dr. Rob Griffith (Isaacs), falls into a coma. Her life becomes complicated when he awakens and wants to resume surgery, which means Samantha would be supervising him."
According to a production listing from IATSE 873, production on Good Sam is both based in and actively filming here in Oakville. The season was given a series order in Los Angeles in May 2021 before it began shooting on October 18, 2021 locally.
The same production says the show is scheduled to continue filming in Oakville until March 22, 2022. A six-month shoot for the first season typically means the show will receive a full first season of episodes, which for an hour-long network series, could be anywhere from 16 to 22 episodes. The production has not confirmed how many episodes season one will feature.
A production of this scope, scale and size brings hundreds of local jobs to Oakville and gives the Town a chance to appear on screen for millions of homes - even though the show is set in the United States. Some filming has also been reported and scheduled to take place in Mississauga at the University of Toronto - Mississauga campus.
Craig Siebels is serving as the director and producer for the first season of filming. According to Nielsen ratings, the first episode last week was viewed by 2.74 million people.
The show continues airing in both the United States and Canada. More information about the production is available online here.
All photos in this story are by and courtesy of Marcel Painchaud.